


That's What Friends Are For

by CubbieGirl1723



Category: Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types, Veronica Mars - Fandom
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Friendship, missing scene 1.10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-13 02:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15354531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CubbieGirl1723/pseuds/CubbieGirl1723
Summary: What happens to Logan after Aaron is stabbed at the Echolls Christmas party?





	That's What Friends Are For

The party guests had mostly all streamed out after Aaron Echolls was loaded into the ambulance. Lynn had hopped in to ride to the hospital with him and that seemed to be the cue for their so-called friends to disperse. 

Veronica had watched Logan turn progressively paler and slump against the bar. She sighed and, against her better judgment, began to make her way across the room to him when she was intercepted. 

“Dad!” 

Keith Mars hugged her to him. “Veronica! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know, just hanging out with my friends.” She gestured feebly at Logan. 

Keith raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her. He may not have known everything that had gone on in her life lately but he was aware that she and Logan certainly weren't friendly these days. 

“What?” He questioned. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Dad, I'm fine. But I'm actually a little worried about Logan.” She waved her hand in his direction. He was still staring blankly at the doorway where his parents had vanished, his dad on a stretcher after being stabbed by a scorned party guest. 

Keith’s piercing gaze caught the tremor in Logan's hands and the wetness in his eyes. “You might be right about that, Veronica, but--”

She cut him off before he could voice his protest further. “I'm gonna stay here with him for a while, make sure he's okay.” She patted her dad on the shoulder and allowed him to place a kiss on the top of her head. 

“You be careful, Veronica, and call me if you need anything!” Keith called after her as she walked away. She nodded absently as she made her way over to Logan. 

“Logan?” She asked softly, standing in front of him. 

Logan's eyes snapped back into focus at the sound of his name and he realized he wasn't alone in the cavernous room. 

“What? Are you looking for Duncan? Jake and Celeste hauled him out of here when the shit hit the fan. Worried about his precious reputation. Shouldn't you be, too?”

The smart thing to do would be leave, Veronica thought. But there was something in his forlorn eyes that tugged at her marshmallow core. She knew what it was like to feel abandoned. Veronica couldn't find it within herself to snark back at him. Which was maybe a first for her. 

She put her hand on his forearm. “Nope, you already destroyed my reputation. You're stuck with me. Let's go finish our poker game or watch a movie. Your choice?” She had seen Logan like this before. She couldn't help but remember that he used to be her friend. She knew the best tactic was distraction. 

Logan didn't think he could bluff her anymore, poker or not. “Movie,” he mumbled. 

Veronica grabbed some snacks from the buffet, hoping that the Echolls had hired a clean up crew, and followed his shuffling form to the media room. 

“I'll even let you pick,” she proposed as she tossed him a Skist, “but I have veto power.”

Color was starting to come back into Logan's cheeks as they went through their familiar motions. It may have been years since they watched a movie together here but he still remembered the drill. 

“One veto.”

“Five,” she countered. 

“Three,” he offered. 

“Done.” Veronica stuck out her hand and Logan shook it. This had always been part of their movie ritual. 

He ambled over to the entertainment center and began perusing the DVD shelves. 

“American Pie?”

“Veto.”

“Dude, Where's My Car?”

“Veto.”

“Zoolander?”

“Acceptable.”

It was a good sign that Logan was in the mood for a comedy. Something light to take his mind off things. Perfect. 

“Popcorn?” He made his way over to the wet bar and rummaged in the cabinet before locating a bag of microwave popcorn. 

“As long as you don't burn it,” Veronica quipped. 

“Ah, we got a new microwave in here after the last fiasco. It has a ‘popcorn’ button and it's virtually impossible to burn it now.”

Finally, Logan gave her more than just a one-word answer. Maybe this night could still be salvaged. 

“What will they think of next?” Veronica asked rhetorically as she looked in the basket by the reclining couch for her favorite blanket. 

She came up empty. “Hey, where's my blanket? The blue fleece one?”

Veronica and Lilly had always complained that the media room was cold and each girl had a “favorite” blanket that they would curl up with during movie nights. 

Logan gulped. “I dunno. Upstairs, maybe?” On his bed was the actual answer but no way in hell was telling Veronica that. Maybe they were calling a Christmas truce or something but she didn't need to know that he slept on those blankets for months after Lilly's death. 

“Oh, no problem.” Veronica shrugged and grabbed a green fleece blanket and tossed a grey one at Logan. People change. Furniture gets rearranged. Blankets move. Friendships die. She told herself that it wasn't a big deal. “Want one?”

“Thanks.” He had put the DVD in and settled on the far side of the couch from Veronica with a bowl of popcorn perfection between them. He watched covertly as she tucked her feet underneath her and covered up with the blanket. 

“So what are you guys doing for Christmas?” Logan asked as he shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth. 

Veronica was startled by Logan's question, more because caring small talk out of Logan's mouth was unheard of than the actual subject. 

“Uh, the usual. Hanging around here. You?” She took a swig of soda and tried to pretend like this was in any way normal. 

“Well, I don't know...now. We were going to go somewhere tropical but it probably depends on my dad…”

“Right. Sorry.” She mentally kicked herself for putting her foot in her mouth and bringing it up. “Logan, if you want to call your mom or the hospital..” she trailed off. 

“Her phone’s turned off and I'm pretty sure the hospital won't tell me anything if I call and ask about Aaron Echolls, even if I can convince them it's a family member.” He shrugged. “Am I a terrible person because I'd rather be waiting here at home?”

Veronica shook her head, no, and went back to watching the movie. 

“I hate tropical Christmas vacations,” Logan blurted out, a bit of a non sequitur. 

Veronica scrambled, realizing that Logan was jumping back to their previous discussion of Christmas plans. 

“I mean, if you're going to travel anywhere for Christmas, shouldn't it be somewhere with snow? A white Christmas, and all?”

Veronica nodded. “I guess. I've only ever had a California Christmas but snow does look like fun.”

“You'd hate how cold it is, though.” Logan looked pointedly at the blanket she was wrapped up in. 

“Probably,” she conceded. 

“Sometime you should come up with me to the cabin in Lake Tahoe.” Logan was intently watching the tv, not making eye contact with her. “As long as you bundled up, you'd love it.”

Was Logan making future plans for their friendship? Had she stumbled into an alternate reality? What was going on? 

Maybe he was in shock or something. “Yeah, okay. That'd be cool.” And unlikely.

Veronica's hand brushed Logan's as they both dug into the popcorn bowl at the same time. Instead of pulling away, she smiled at him and glanced at the movie, reciting “Orange Mocha Frappuccino!” with him. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. 

They would inevitably say that line together, while Duncan looked on in amusement and then Lilly would reply:

“Gross. Don't ever order that for me, lover!” Logan did a passable Lilly impersonation. 

Veronica rolled her head across the back of the couch and met his eyes. She could feel the ghost of Lilly there with them, and the ghost of who Duncan used to be before he turned into a zombie, and even the ghost of her friendship with Logan, not to mention her former self. God, they had all changed so much...except Lilly. But for the first time, sitting here with Logan, it didn't hurt so much. She could take out this memory of Lilly and the Fab Four and enjoy it without the accompanying sadness that usually crept in. 

Logan reached across the back of the couch and ran his hand through her short hair. His eyes were full of the memory they had just shared and he had a small smile on his face. “Thanks.”

Veronica didn't know if he was thanking her for the memory or for being there with him when he needed it but she realized it didn't matter much. She had missed having Logan as a friend and she had missed having someone in her life who knew Lilly like she did. 

“You're welcome,” she replied. Logan's fingers continued to stroke her hair as she tried to turn her attention back to the movie. 

“Your hair feels so different now that it's short,” he commented, still staring at her intently. “Why did you cut it?”

Veronica gulped. “I guess I just needed a change,” she evaded. She was not ready to tell him any more than that. 

“Lilly would love it.” Logan paused. “But then...maybe not. She might feel threatened by your new-found hotness.” 

Veronica scoffed at him, trying to cover that she had no idea what to say to that. Logan thought she was hot? What the heck? 

“Not a whole lot threatened Lilly,” she finally murmured. She leaned into Logan's hand and surreptitiously moved closer to him on the couch. His strong fingers on her scalp felt amazing. 

Logan held up the empty popcorn bowl. “Want me to make more?”

Veronica shook her head no. Logan sat the bowl down on the floor and eliminated any remaining space between them by putting his arm around her. 

“C’mere,” he said, and laid Veronica's head on his shoulder, continuing to run his fingers through her hair. 

Veronica couldn't help herself, she stiffened. Logan had always been a tactile friend but this was just too much. 

“Logan...what are you doing?”

He continued to stare straight ahead at the tv and didn't move away from her. “I'm sorry I've been such a jerk, Veronica. I wish I hadn't pushed you away after Lilly died. Will you forgive me?” 

She relaxed into his side. “Yeah,” she sighed. “Will you forgive me for planting a bong in your locker?”

“I knew that was you!” He crowed. “Yes.” He paused. “If you forgive me for writing dirty messages about you in the boys bathroom.”

“Figures,” she huffed. “And not very creative. Yes...if you forgive me for posting your profile on Neptune Swingles.”

Logan laughed. “Yes...if you forgive me for slashing your tires.”

“Also not very creative...I expect better out of you, Echolls. Okay, I will forgive you for that...if you forgive me for deleting your history paper off your school hard drive.”

“Oh, sneaky tech skills! But I must confess, I also stole your spark plugs.” Logan sheepishly added this to his previous confession. 

“Logan! I didn't know you knew how to pop the hood on a car. I'm impressed.” Veronica laughed. “So are we calling a truce?”

“How about an official end instead of a truce?” Logan offered hesitantly. 

“So you're conceding that I'm the victor? Excellent.” Veronica smirked. 

“Not what I said, Mars.” His hand moved from her hair to her shoulder and started rubbing his thumb in circles on her shoulder blade. 

“Mmm, that feels good.” Veronica shifted so that her back was to him, hoping he would take the hint. He did, and started giving her a back massage. Logan had always given the best back rubs, and it had been so long since anyone had touched Veronica. Being an outcast meant even platonic hugs were few and far between, let alone a good back massage. 

“Lilly always said you had magic hands.”

Oh, crap. Had she just said that out loud?

“Uh…” Logan stuttered. “This is maybe not what she was talking about. But I do appreciate the praise. My reputation is not unfounded, if you want to investigate further.”

Veronica was thankful that he couldn't see the blush that she felt on her cheeks. The undercurrent of sexual tension that her words created made her uncomfortable and she leapt up off the couch. 

“I should go.” She tried to keep the panic out of her voice. “It's late and--”

Logan grabbed her wrist and cut her off. “Calm down, Virgin Ears. I'm sorry, Veronica, I promise I will be good.” He paused. “Well, I will try.” He couldn't help but bob his eyebrows suggestively at her. “Sometimes my animal magnetism just can't be stopped.”

Veronica laughed, effectively breaking the tension, and sat back down. 

Logan continued, “The movie’s not even over yet. Will you stay a little longer?”

She nodded and allowed herself to relax back against him as he put his arm back around her shoulders. 

“Thanks,” he whispered against her hair, so quiet she wasn't sure he'd actually said it. 

“That's what friends do.” 

Veronica couldn't help but wonder if they could really put the past year behind them and be friends again. Would that even be possible? 

For all her doubts, she desperately hoped so.

**Author's Note:**

> I've never really posted anything before but I had this idea rattling around in my head and decided to play with it. Here's to taking new chances!


End file.
